He's already mentioned the growth of the Chinese economy as a threat to U.S. economic primacy in his speech now under way. And his 10-point plan of action for his first day in office includes sanctioning China for its trade practices.

"Thirty years ago, America was overwhelmingly the largest manufacturing economy in the world," he said. "This year, China is slated to pass us."

The last GOP contender to lay out his jobs plan, Jon Huntsman, is a former U.S. ambassador to China. But Huntsman didn't mention China at all in his jobs speech last week, and answered a question about China by hailing it as a potential market for U.S. goods.

Romney also would create a new multinational trade group called the “Reagan Economic Zone,” described in his plan as “a multilateral trading bloc open to any country committed to the principles of open markets and free enterprise.”

The idea, advisers said, is to supplement the flawed World Trade Organization by forming a new alliance exclusively of trusted trading partners – presumably excluding, and providing a counterweight to, China.

Romney is speaking extemporaneously from handwritten notes. He pointed this out at the beginning of the speech, saying he wants to have "a conversation" without Teleprompters or a script. It's the opposite of his sometime reliance on PowerPoint.